March 01, 2011

AIR Council invites you to join us on Saturday 26 March for rally against cuts.

The entire cultural landscape is set to contract, along with our job opportunities and potential commissions. This is not just about our livelihoods, galleries and politics. It is about our lifeblood – our culture!

How to get involved
We are asking AIR members to do what artists do best – make work in response to the cuts!
Painting, drawing, sculpture, performance, sound… bring your work to London and join us on the march. Let’s be creative and show the UK what artists are made of!

Location
AIR will meet at 10am outside the Royal Festival Hall. We will then set off to join the main march, organised by the TUC, at 10:30am.
The march will gather on Victoria Embankment and form between Waterloo and Blackfriars Bridges from 11am. It will start moving off around noon, but because of the likely size the last marchers will probably not leave until around 2pm, and possibly later.

The TUC are advising people from outside London and the South-East to arrive after the start. This is because people with long return journeys and trains to catch will find it easier to leave if they are at the front of the march.
The march will arrive in Hyde Park shortly after 1:15pm and the rally will start at around 1:30pm. Because of the large numbers involved, the TUC expects people to still be arriving at Hyde Park at 4pm. They will therefore keep the rally running until around 4:30pm.

Transport
Although neither the TUC nor AIR are directly organising travel for the day, False Economy’s website has the complete listing of coaches and trains currently being offered. Full details here »

Why is AIR marching?
Artists are facing an ideological attack on their profession. The state’s ruthless cuts could potentially devastate the visual and applied arts sector. If the current cuts continue, the arts will become more exclusive, with access limited to those who can afford it.

AIR believes:
The arts and arts education should be accessible for all.
Artists have the right to fair pay and fair treatment.
Art is of critical value to society.
There is an alternative to the current austerity measures.
AIR is non-partisan in its engagement at policy level and seeks to promote the arts and affirm the value of artists in society at government level. AIR canvasses the opinion of its membership on key issues and seeks to advocate these both at policy level and to support the grassroots engagement of artists.

Both AIR Council and AIR Activists, independent of their personal political beliefs, seek to advocate the concerns of the AIR membership on key industry and government boards and advisory groups.
In February 2011, AIR surveyed its membership on access/cuts to arts HE. 95% of respondents said they supported the view that art education should be accessible to everyone “irrespective of background and financial status.” Therefore this is the issue that AIR is mandated to take to the march.

Is AIR uniting with the TUC?
No. AIR is not uniting with the TUC but rather taking part in an event organised by the TUC. We have consulted the membership on the issue of access/cuts to arts education and the AIR Council took the decision that, based on responses, participation in the rally was entirely appropriate.

http://www.a-n.co.uk/air/article/1147802/469392